The Mayor’s Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that every city mayor since Rudy Giuliani has employed to raise money to support philanthropic initiatives that have City Hall’s backing. | Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images

Mayor's Fund fundraising records first annual plunge under de Blasio

The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, the outside nonprofit that supports Mayor Bill de Blasio’s initiatives, raised $18.98 million during calendar year 2017. That marks its lowest fundraising total since the mayor first took office in January 2014 and a significant drop from 2016, when the fund raised roughly $27 million, or 30 percent more, according to numbers provided to POLITICO by the fund and the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board.

The drop doesn't portend trouble for the fund, which raises money for specific initiatives that have definite start and end dates, but suggests the fund's leaders have become less concerned than they once were about possible comparisons between the amount of donations to the fund made during the Michael Bloomberg era, versus those made since de Blasio took office. In 2014 and 2015, the fund was eager to prove it could raise as much money under de Blasio as it did under the city's billionaire former mayor.

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The Mayor’s Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that every city mayor since Rudy Giuliani has employed to raise money to support philanthropic initiatives that have City Hall’s backing. It is now chaired by de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, whom de Blasio appointed to the position in February 2014, shortly after he took office.

The fund took in $9.56 million during the six-month period between April 2017 and September, an 11 percent drop from the same period during the previous year, when the fund raised $10.7 million, according to reports made publicly available by COIB.

Prior to 2017, the fund had been steadily improving its fundraising, growing from $19 million raised in 2014 to $23 million in 2015 and $27 million in 2016.

A City Hall spokeswoman explained the dip in fundraising as the result of fluctuations in the fund's focus.

"Thus, annual contributions and expenses fluctuate from year to year depending on which year contributions are received and program expenses are incurred. For instance, in 2016 the fund received funding for several multi-year projects including the Emergency Food Assistance Collaborative; HPD’s Housing & Neighborhood Study; and several programs within the Mayors Fund’s Center for Youth Employment," Meyer said.

Between April and September 2017, 94 donors gave $5,000 or more. The fund’s three largest donors during that time period were the Corporation for National & Community Service, the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund and the Robin Hood Foundation, which each gave more than $1 million during the six-month period.

During 2017, the fund focused on three areas: youth workforce expansion, mental health services for underserved communities, and help for the city's undocumented immigrants. The fund also collected roughly $1.7 million in aid for people displaced by Hurricane Maria.

The fund supported a program called NYCitizenship, which partners with nonprofit organizations to provide free legal assistance and financial counseling to immigrants trying to gain citizenship, according to an annual report released in January.

The fund also helped expand the footprint of Girl Scout Troop 6000, a troop that serves homeless girls and women, and opened 10 new mini-soccer pitches as part of the NYC Soccer Initiative. In January, the fund announced a new initiative called EmpoweredNYC, which aims to improve the financial health of people with disabilities living in New York City.